The Saint Louis U. High racquetball returned to the courts last Friday after a two-week Christmas break, defeating Kirkwood to remain undefeated (5-0) and keep the number one spot in the division.

No. 1 seed Danny Jurguens (Sr.) beat Zach West 15-7, 15-5 to start things off, followed by No. 2 seed Oliver Allen (Sr.) had a very close match that went to the tiebreaker, but he took the three game series 10-15, 15-9 (11-9). 

“My match went for like an hour and a half,” said Allen. “It was intense all the way through, at no point did it seem like either one of us was going to give in.”

No. 3 seed Max Telken (Jr.) continued his undefeated season by defeating junior Nicholas Whittington in a back and forth match 15-14, 15-10. No.4 seed Jared Thornberry (Jr.) beat Chris Plants 15-3, 15-3.  No. 5 seed Danny Philips (Jr.) won his match so easily he finished before anyone else could watch; Philips played one of his best games of the season and has shown great improvement as the season has progressed. Next, No. 6 seed Nick Peterson (Sr.) lost his first match of the season, to Sam Neunreiter 15-9, 8-15, and 7-11. Finally, the doubles team picked up another win to stay in first place in the doubles division and stay undefeated at 6-0. They won the match 15-3,15-7.

“I think Kirkwood is probably our toughest opponent,” said head coach Stephen Deves. “Not in every position but as a whole, that team has the depth to challenge us the most.”

On Monday, Jan. 11, SLUH faced CBC in what was by far the hardest match yet for the Jr. Bills, but SLUH managed to fight and sweep the Cadets. Jueguens beat CBC’s No. 1 seed  Jake Schmidt, 15-13, 15-8. Allen beat Gabe Collins 15-7, 8-15, and 11-8. Telken beat CBC’s Spencer Keith 15-9, 15-4. Thornberry had a close match but won the best of three series 15-11, 15-9. Philips won his match by forfeit, so he played (and beat) a CBC JV player for a practice match. At the No. 6 seed, Peterson defeated Nick Gionnotti 15-4,15-1. Finally, the doubles team of Ben Harmon and Will Shorey took another win by forfeit.

“Looking at that we’ve played every team but one now in the league and won pretty favorably,” said Deves. “I feel very confident going into the State Tournament.”

“Looking at that we’ve played every team but one now in the league and won pretty favorably. I feel very confident going into the State Tournament.”

Head Coach Stephen Deves

SLUH racquetball is currently ranked number one in their division. The upcoming State Tournament will not be only one day this year but it will span over a few days at the end of February. With COVID they are spreading out the games to reduce the number of people at the courts and so that athletes are not playing more than a few opponents each day. Although the next regular season match for Varsity-1 is not until Jan. 25 against Lafayette, the annual doubles tournament is taking place the weekend of Jan. 22.